Moments to share with Jesus
My first story is about Eve, the first woman. She is remarkable and I can identify with her beauty and her faults.
Light cascaded through the trees to the chorus
of magnificent birdsong, the world’s premier choir. Vibrant green grass and
blue sky exalted God’s first garden, and it was beautiful in his eyes. Water
emerged from the earth and God divided the stream into four mighty rivers: the
Pishon, the Gihon, the Tigris, and the Euphrates.
Animals of every kind roamed the new
earth and burrowed under its surface, but none shared God’s image. He created a
man to honour him, to fill the earth and to subdue it.
The first human relationship and romance
Adam became a gardener and named the animals,
but they weren’t like him.
‘Man needs companionship. I will
make a helper suitable for him.’
And God performed the first operation. Surgeons operate to repair a
broken body, but God created a perfect woman.
“The woman was made out of the side of Adam;
not made out of his head to rule over him nor out of his feet to be trampled
upon by him, but out of his side to be equal with him, under his arm to be
protected, and near his heart to be beloved.” Matthew Henry’s Commentary of
the Bible.
Adam slept. When he awoke, did he leap to his
feet, captivated? She stood tall, her body luscious and magnificent. Did he
clasp her hand and hold her to his heart? What were his first words?
As the woman gazed into his eyes, did her heart
leap? He was strong and his virile muscles rippled in the sunlight. How was
their first kiss? Was the spark of every romance born in Eden? As she worked
beside him in the garden, their romance blossomed. God had created the first
marriage, Adam’s greatest gift from God. They were perfect, innocent, and in blissful
harmony with God and the world. The woman shared his food and listened to his
thoughts. She was bone of his bones and flesh of his flesh.
The first sin
God protected the tree of knowledge, of good
and evil. If they ate it, they would die, but if they trusted God’s abundant
provision, he would satisfy their needs.
A colossal snake inhabited the garden, and
Satan impersonated it. A master of destruction, vice, and seduction, he stole
into God’s earthly paradise, intent on havoc and revenge. He had fought the
Almighty for supremacy and God cast him from heaven.
As the woman wandered through Eden, the serpent
slithered towards her, rising, falling in a mesmerizing, seductive dance.
“Did God tell you not to eat from any tree in
the garden?”
“He said we could eat from any except the
central tree. If we eat it or touch it, we will die.”
The devil had hooked her, and she lied to strengthen
her argument. God told them not to eat the fruit, but he issued no warning about
touching it.
“You won’t die, for God knows when you eat of
it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
Satan twisted the truth and pretended to support
his argument with God’s name. Adam and Eve wouldn’t die until God, in his mercy,
granted them many more years of life.
When you find truth and lies entwined, be on
your guard because the truth may lure you to accept the lie. Prayer is your
safeguard.
Eve ate the fruit, offered it to Adam, and he
ate it with her. As Satan had promised, they understood the difference between
good and evil, but they couldn’t face God. To cover themselves, they sewed fig
leaves, but when God walked through the garden, they could not escape him.
“What have you done?”
Eve blamed the serpent. The Lord God cursed the
serpent and promised he would create animosity between the woman and the
serpent’s offspring. God promised Satan he would crush his head while the
serpent would strike his heel.
Who are the devil’s children? They are those who
fall under his control and reject Christ. God’s son died at Calvary where Satan
struck him, but Christ’s resurrection has won the battle over sin. When Jesus
forgives us, God removes the sin barrier which Adam and Eve imposed on humanity.
We become the Heavenly Father’s children and joint heirs with Christ.
How could Adam and Eve cover their sin? There
was nothing they could do to restore their innocence. This revelation hindered rather
than enlightened them. If only they had asked God for guidance, rather than
relying on their limited experience.
God made skin garments for Adam and Eve, and
death entered the garden. The animal’s sacrifice symbolized the Lamb of God,
who died for the world’s sin. Heaven was merciful to this first couple, but God
must see shed blood before he can remit sin.
The first wife
Rather
than harmony between Adam and Eve, there would be conflict, since he had laid
the blame at her feet. If she won an argument, he would retaliate to maintain
control and to rule over her. Eve exists in every woman, since we
are her descendants. Her sin is a warning to pray before we speak. If we
manipulate our husbands and ignore God’s perfect model for marriage, we will
face a battle for control in the partnership. A husband should love his wife,
respect, and protect her to honour God, who gave him his wife as a precious
gift. He should lead her with godly wisdom, praying for God’s guidance and live
by biblical principles. Her responsibility is to submit to his Christian
leadership, but if he doesn’t respect or consider God, she must ask God for
direction. When a Christian couple live under Christ’s authority, God may guide
their relationship as a harmonious representation of Christ and the church. The
husband leads the home and is accountable to God for his family. His wife must
respect his authority.
The first refugees
If they ate from the tree of life, Adam and Eve would nullify God’s
death promise. Sin has consequences and atonement must be paid. God drove Adam
and Eve from Eden, and they became the first refugees, displaced from their
familiar congenial surroundings, to search for a new home. Life was hard, burdened
by continuous work. Men did not
call on God’s name again for several generations. Life was tough, because without
the Lord’s presence, existence would become a meaningless journey. Although
Adam and Eve had wandered away from God, he did not forget them. Eve would be a
mother.
The
first mother
Motherhood is a rollercoaster. Where
else do we ride life’s joys and sorrows with such extremes? A child’s first
step or word floods a mother with joy, but a child’s sickness or unacceptable
behavior creates deep anxiety or guilt. From conception to adulthood and
beyond, a mother experiences responsibility for her offspring.
Pain crushes us, and there is none more debilitating than childbirth. It
absorbs every fiber of a woman’s existence before the child is born. It is a
painful baptism which renews life. God may use it to remind us we are sinners and
need a new life in Christ. Eve must have realized her pain was the consequence
of her sin. Perhaps she thought she would die, but after Cain’s birth, Eve
recognized God had helped her.
‘A woman giving birth to a child has pain
because her time has come; but when her baby is born, she forgets the anguish
because of her joy a child is born into the world.’
Jesus offered hope to his disciples with this
verse. When a new mother holds her baby, her heart overflows with love. She is
hopeful for her child.
The family crisis and the first
murder
Eve gave
birth to two sons. Years passed, and the two sons argued. Sibling rivalry seasoned
into poisonous hatred until Cain killed his brother and his blood cried from
the ground. Did Eve weep by his grave, grieving and wishing she had prevented
this tragedy? Was it her anguish which God heard in heaven? The Bible doesn’t
say. We can only imagine. Although no mother expects to bury her child, grief
is universal to motherhood. We carry guilt for our children and grieve when
they sin. Eve’s grief was twofold, because both the offender and the slain were
her sons.
At the
cross, the second Adam’s mother stood in grief, watching her son suffer excruciating
shame and agony. Like Eve, she couldn’t prevent his death. He placed her into
John’s care.
Eve’s consolation
was another son, Seth, and his son, who was born many years later. She became a
grandmother to Enosh.
As Eve’s daughters, Satan tempts us. Do we listen to his enticement or to Jesus? Forbidden fruit blinds and distracts us from God’s love and truth. Beneath the apple’s shiny surface, poison lurks, and it destroys us. Conscious of our inferiority or guilt, we seek an identity in our workplace, or search for satisfaction in our appearance, or our family. We believe losing weight, buying a larger home, or finding a ‘better’ man will bring us satisfaction.
The
apostles encouraged the women of the first century church to wear modest
clothing and express themselves in good works. Modesty protects women and men.
A modest woman doesn’t tempt men with her sexuality, but reserves it for her
marriage.
Solomon’s final proverb sets God’s ideal for
womanhood. ‘A woman who fears the Lord is praiseworthy.’ Jesus submitted his
will to his Father and saved the world. Follow him, do his work, and honor him.
If we live for Jesus and he lives in us, his identity becomes ours. His compassion
creates nurturing, kindness, and good work in womanhood. Her goal is to be
Christlike.
Jesus Christ can satisfy our needs. We can be
wives of noble character, mothers who love and nurture their children, and women
who serve their community with kindness and compassion.
Blessings,
Janet.
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